MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has signed a resolution to include road sections and a transport link expected to be built between mainland Russia and the Crimean peninsula by 2018 into the M25 federal highway, the government’s website said on Monday.

The construction of a transport pass across the Kerch Strait will create a new transport corridor between Russia and Crimea, the government resolution said.

"A new transport route will include a road approach intended to be built from the highway to the transport pass across the Kerch Strait, the transport pass across the Kerch Strait, a road approach from the transport pass across the Kerch Strait to the city of Kerch, and also road approaches to the sea ports of Kavkaz and Taman," the government resolution said.

The Russian government earlier said it was considering building a bridge across the Kerch Strait to Crimea as a more preferable option compared with the construction of a tunnel.

Crimea used to be part of Russia from 1784 until 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev handed it over to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in a voluntaristic act. Crimea remained part of independent Ukraine after the USSR collapsed in 1991.

A people’s referendum was held in Crimea on March 16, 2014, in which most people voted for reuniting with Russia. On March 18, 2014, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Crimea’s integration into Russia.